They have plans for new series, more education programs for children, a more in-depth Phyllis Walbye film series, and a higher level of holiday shows that new Rialto Theater manager Rich Harris hopes will take programming at the theater to a new level and attract a wider variety of patrons.

The theater stayed dark the last couple weeks of December while the small dressing room under the stage was refurbished with new carpet, paint, and lighting.

"We've got new stage draperies on stage," Harris said.

The stage is also being sanded and refinished.

This is all in preparation for a new year of great programming.

Former theater manager Jan Sawyer kicked off that programming for 2014 by booking acts like Judy Collins in February; a Buddy Holly revue in March and two nights of guitarist Leo Kottke in early summer.

"Those were all in progress when I got here," Harris said.

Harris took over the manager position in November and plans to build on several programs.

Tuesday Theater for Kids

The summer arts and education program for children usually occurs three to four times.

"We're going to try to develop a program that will be much more thorough," Harris said. "I would like to do it year-round, have it monthly at least."

He said there are many programs for children in the arts available.

"It introduces kids to all manner of arts," he said.

He wants to bring in hands-on workshops, symphonies like "instrument petting zoos" (which the theater has seen before) and other performing and visual arts.

"There's often support for this, it's just up to us to make the arrangements," Harris said.

Performing arts series

Harris said the staff at the Rialto Theater is also looking to expand its series repertoire.

"There are great small theater productions we're looking to bring in," Harris said. "There's a fellow that does these one-man theater shows like 'One Man Star Wars' and 'One Man Lord of the Rings.'"

He would also like to invite in more ensembles from various Colorado symphonies like the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra. He likes the idea of packaging a symphony with a comedian for a night of music and comedy.

The theater staff want to eventually start a membership program that gives members the first shot at tickets and discounts, "but we need something more to offer in a membership," Harris said.

Phyllis Walbye Film series

Harris would like to find a more permanent night for the series. He said the Walbye series is usually about once a month but not on a consistent day.

He wants to increase the number of screenings of a movie and maybe show it multiple times in a day or over a couple days. He would also like to possibly move it to a weekend day instead of week day.

"This is a great service to offer the independent film community," Harris said.

Erika Lehman, marketing coordinator in the cultural services department with the city of Loveland, added that organizers plan to have themed "cocktail and cinema" events at the theater in conjunction with movies.

Participants will pay one price to attend a cocktail hour -- with alcohol service provided by Next Door Food & Drink -- before a movie, enjoy a cash bar, and carry their drinks into the theater for the movie.

Harris hopes to work this into the Phyllis Walbye series and other films shown at the theater.

"You can come see a movie and enjoy a drink or two and probably keep it under $15," Lehman said.

Holiday shows

Harris plans to implement special shows around Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Thanksgiving.

On Mother's Day, mothers will be free and a concert will focus on moms and motherhood. Families are encouraged to take their mothers out to lunch or dinner at a downtown restaurant.

The music will surround the topic of love for Valentine's Day. Harris hopes to bring in musical couples that can share their stories. This year, as the first year, organizers plan to show the modern version of the film, "Romeo and Juliet," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and employ the "cocktails and cinema" concept by having a Capulet cocktail before the movie.

And for Thanksgiving, Harris will use a program about life in small town America. The program was developed by a couple in Denver.

"It's really fun and great for Thanksgiving," he said.

He would also like to do a large-scale homegrown Christmas production in the future, although the version in 2014 will be modest. He wants to see some kind of Christmas revue of variety acts by local groups.

"Some of this is all a dream but plans are in motion," Harris said. "Most of it is, I'm trying to push forward the stuff that has been going on, and I'm excited."

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.